According to Saudi officials familiar with the situation, President
Trump’s dramatic reverse on the fighting in Libya in early April came as a direct result of lobbying by Egypt’s junta leader and the Saudi Crown Prince.
The US had long publicly backed the unity government in Libya, and when
the Egyptian-backed Khalifa Hafter attacked the capital, the US was
quick to call for an end to all hostilities. Then Trump got calls from
Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Trump followed this up by declaring himself to have a “shared vision”
with Hafter, and presented his self-proclaimed army as key to a
“democratic political system.” Since then, the US has stopped all calls
to end fighting in the area.
Hafter has a long history in Libya, and some of that history involved
being a CIA-backed rebel leader. At this point, however, he seems to
just be a convenient leader of a move against the Muslim
Brotherhood-aligned political factions which have been successful in
Libya’s elections. If this means installing another military strongman,
Saudi Arabia and Egypt are comfortable with that, and President Trump
can clearly be persuaded.
Egypt, Saudi Lobbying Convinced Trump to Back Libyan Warlord
US stopped all talk of ending hostilities in Tripoli
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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